This invention relates to process databases that are updated and accessed in real time.
Such database may be used, for example, in a computer system for monitoring and controlling operation and conditions in a manufacturing environment. It is known to organize a process database into categories or "blocks" according to the types of data that are stored in the database and processed by the computer. For example, input data (such as information from sensors that monitor operating conditions, e.g., temperature) are stored in input data blocks, and output data blocks contain data that is to be sent to control devices (i.e., process hardware), for example, to manipulate a valve to control temperature.
Every block contains sufficient information to fully define all of the data that is associated with it. For example, an input block holds enough information to completely define one input point (i.e., one sensor) in the system. This input point may have a number of categories associated specifically with it, such as the identity of the sensor that generates the data (e.g., a particular temperature sensor), the type of sensor, and the manner in which the data is to be processed.
There are also generic categories of information that are common to all blocks. While the actual data for the generic categories generally is different for different blocks, each block contains information in the generic categories. Examples of these generic categories are block status, alarm priority, alarm destination, and current alarm.
Typically, every block is stored in the process database in its entirety; that is, each block is stored as a collection of the generic categories and its specific categories.